Jane Austen fans, rejoice. Come July, you’ll be able to watch a Netflix adaptation of Austen’s novel, Persuasion, starring Dakota Johnson and a cast of other fan favorites.
According to the official trailer, this version shows Johnson’s character and favorite Austen heroine Anne Elliot “living with her snobby family on the brink of bankruptcy.” Elliot is “an unconforming woman with modern sensibilities,” but when Frederick Wentworth, “the dashing one she once sent away, crashes back into her life, Anne must choose between putting the past behind her or listening to her heart when it comes to second chances.” Is it possible to love period dramas any more?
After 2020’s Emma, countless adaptions of Pride and Prejudice, and the popularity of Sense and Sensibility, Austen is in demand, and based on the buzz for Persuasion, this adaptation will deliver.
Captain Wentworth will be played by Cosmo Jarvis (Peaky Blinders) and Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) is slated to play Mr. Elliot, “the callous and classic Austen foil.” Other cast members include Richard E. Grant, Edward Bluemel, Lydia Rose Bewley, Suki Waterhouse, Ben Bailey Smith, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Mia McKenna-Bruce, Izuka Hoyle, Yolanda Kettle, and Nia Towle.
“Persuasion was so fun,” Johnson told Vogue earlier this year. “Doing a Jane Austen film is the dream, and there are only a few of them so I feel incredibly lucky. The cast is amazing, and our director, Carrie Cracknell, is fantastic.”
The drama was filmed in Bath, England last spring, which is fitting given Austen herself lived there for many years.
“With period pieces, I’m always interested in there being a connection between then and now,” director Carrie Cracknell told Town&Country. “I think period films often teach you as much about the moment they were made in as they do the moment that they’re replicating, somehow.”
For her part, Johnson was thrilled to be cast as Elliot. “I was drawn to the occasionally modernized language and themes, breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the audience, and the fact that a strong-willed woman remains as much a topic of discussion these days as it was then,” Johnson said.
You’re gonna want to put this one in your calendar. Persuasion will be available on Netflix on July 15, 2022.
